1.5 True of Blood: Kallen's Tale (16 page)

She looks unmoved.
“Nice speech, will you please get off from me?”

“May I kiss you first?”
  It never hurts to ask, right?

“No.”
  Yeah, that was the answer I expected.

With a sigh,
I roll off from her and stand up
. 
I offer her my hand, but she does not take it.

“And for future reference,
” she says as she stands,
“
the answer will always be no to that question.”

I believe that was a challenge. 
One that I intend to win.
 
“Of course,”
I say out loud
.

She is quiet for several moments, as she stares at the ground.  Possibly waiting for the answer to
what she should do to
suddenly appear in the snow?  Finally, she says the words that tell me she has given up the foolish idea of going home. 
Or leaving without me.
 
“What are we going to eat since our food is buried?”

I try hard not to smile. 
“This is an excellent opportunity to teach you about both hunting and gathering.”

“Hunting?
  You mean
,
you expect me to kill an animal and then eat it after seeing it take its last breath?  Not going to happen.”
  Good to hear all the fire has not gone out of her.

“Then
,
perhaps we should follow tradition and I sh
ould hunt while you gather.”  It is getting harder not to laugh.

“Fine, just what exactly am I gathering?”

“Wood for a fire.”

“Just wood?
  I thought you were going to tell me which berries or tree bark or something is edible.”

“Unfortunately, at this altitude
,
at this time of year, there is very little the mountain has to offer as food.  We will have to dine on rabbits
,
or possibly deer.  And I
promise,
only I will witness their dying breath.” 
I
still don’t laugh. 
I am amazed at my restraint.

“Fine, go kill a bunny and I’ll pick up some sticks.” 
She walks away, leaving me free to finally chuckle.  She is damn cute when she is pouty. 

Now, for the hunting.
  I have wanted to do this since we started on this journey, but I was not sure how Xandra would feel about eating wild animals.  Personally, I love a good rabbit stew. 

It does not take long to find tracks.  Moving
silently through the trees, I follow the tracks to a small clump of bushes.  After a moment, my target hops out.  Surprised to find me, it freezes in its tracks.  A single arrow finds its way to its heart, and the rabbit is ready to be our dinner.

Walking back to where I left Xandra, I half expect her to be gone.  I knew that was a strong possibility when I left her alone, but I had to give her space.  If she is gone, it will be as easy to track her as it was the rabbit. 
Maybe easier.

What I find when I return is not what I expected.  Xandra is still here.  That is not the part that has me rattled. It is that she is sitting on the stump she pushed me over, with
tears streaming down her face.  I am in kneeling in front of her in a flash, all thoughts of the hunt gone. 

Using my thumb to wipe tears from her cheek,
I say quietly,
“If I could make all of this go away, I would
.
”
She nods but her tears come harder
. 
Without hesitation, I gather her in my arms and hold her tight as she cries.  I do not know what the final straw was for her to break down – the magic, the death threats, the lies, the avalanche…me.  Whatever it is, I want to be here for her. 
For as long as she will let me.

Eventually, she has no more tears to shed.  Pulling back from me, she wipes at her eyes.  “
Thank you
,” she says
sof
tly
. 

Recognizing that she needs space
again
, I turn from her and begin building a fire with the few pieces of wood she found.  She must have found the rabbit, because she says,
“Next time, will you please leave the head in the woods?”

I
smile and nod. 
“Of course.”

Chapter 1
7

I am impressed.  She is doing her best to eat the bits of rabbit I cooked for her, regardless of her squeamishness
over seeing
the rabbit before it was skinned. 

“Are we in a circle?”
she asks around a piece of rabbit that seems to be stuck in her throat
. 

I shake my head. 
“Now that I know you can handle yourself, there is no need right now. When we find a place to rest our heads tonight, I will put one up so we can sleep peacefully.”
  I want all of my magical strength available right now with her emotions leaning on the unstable side.
  I do not think she will intentionally hurt me again, but I have definitely not ruled out her doing it on accident.

She
snort
s
.  “That’s not likely to happen.
”
Then, in an interesting tangent, she asks, “
Do you think I’ll be able to make things appear and disappear like you can?”

I nod.  “Of course,
as soon as you learn to draw only a small amount of magic instead of filling yourself to the brim
,
you will be able to make anything you want appear.”

“But you said the Cowan Fairies can’t do that.”

“You are not a Cowan Fairy.  You are a Fairy who is very powerful.  The only thing you lack is control.” 

“How long has it been since there was a Witch Fairy besides me.” 
I notice a little edge to her voice as she says the word Witch.

We spend a few moments discussing the fact that she is likely the only Witch Fairy to ever have been born. 
“Why am I so awful to have around?”
she asks.

I raise my eyebrows in a teasing way, which earns me the eye roll I was expecting
.  “You know what I mean.  Not today, I mean in the cosmic order of things.”

Complete honesty.  Maybe if I slip this in really quickly, we can glide right over the subject. 
“The prophecy says: A Witch’s child of Fae is born
when spirits of the realms are torn.  Into the world destruction she brings
,
while children cry and angels sing.  None may survive the vengeance of
she
, and immortal her soul is to be
,
to remedy the world of its natural discord.”

I do not think we are going to glide right over the subject.  Those are thunderclouds gathering in her eyes. 
“Really.
  You are just now telling me that there is a prophecy? 
Really?
  Are you kidding me?”

I am glad it is dark so she cannot see how red my face is. 
“It did n
ot seem important to tell you,” I mumble around a bite of rabbit.

“There’s a prophecy that says I’m going to bring destruction to the world while watching children cry
,
and you don’t think it’s important to tell me that?  What is wrong with you?”

I am having trouble finding the courage to look at her. 
“After I met you, the prophecy did not seem to ring true
,
so there seemed no reason to dwell on it any longer.”

“Are you considered young or old in your realm?”

That gets me to look up.  Is she really going to drop this? 
“I am very young for the Fae.”

“Are Fairies immortal?”

I shake my head. 
Is this sudden swing in conversation some sort of trap? 
I
s she switching back to crazy? 
“No, but it is not unusual for a Fairy to live for thousands of years.”
 
Thousands of Cowan years.

“Hmm, I wonder how long I’ll live since I’m half Witch.  Guess I’ll just have to wait and see since I’m such an enigma, huh?”

I
f
there
is
a trap here
,
I am missing
it.
 
But, why
is she so chatty all of a sudden, I wonder.
 
“It would seem so.” 

Taking a last bite of her dinner, she throws the rest in the fire and stands up. 
“We should probably get going.”

Uh oh.
  “Get going towards where, your home?”

She sighs deeply. 
“No.  How long do you think
Maurelle
and
Olwyn
will be out?”

I chuckle as I stand up to put the fire out.  I use my magic, but I still douse it with plenty of snow.  Even snow covered trees can burn. 
“Considering the amount of magic you pushed through them, I would assume for several hours yet.”

“Okay, then let’s try to put some more distance between us and them.” 
She turns around and starts walking.  There is nothing left for me to do but follow her.  At least she is heading away from where we left
Maurelle
and
Olwyn
.

We walk for quite a while as the weather does its best to keep us from making forward progress.  When we have to walk with our heads down to avoid our eyes getting dried out by the wind gales, I start looking for a place to stay for the night.  It does not take long to find one. 
“I think I see a place!”
I yell to her
over the wind. 
She does not respond; I am not even sure she heard me.  But she does look relieved when she sees the small indentation in the rocks that will keep us out of the wind and snow for the night.

When she steps onto the hard rock, she stumbles.  Falling towards me, I catch her
, hating the fact that I am going to have to let her go in a second
.  God, I love the feeling of her in my arms.  I need to convince her that I am not the Fairy she thinks I am. 
Soon.
 

As soon as she can, Xandra
steps away from me.  Sitting down on the cold rock, she pulls her knees up and wraps her arms around them. 
“Any chance
you could make me a blanket?” she asks through shivering teeth.

I sit down next to her.  Suddenly, I am rethinking the whole complete honesty policy. 
“Fairy magic is tricky with things like that.  In order for a Fairy to create something such as clothes, it must be physically touching him or
her
at all times.  As soon as the Fairy is no longer touching it, it disappears.”
  I can almost feel Tabitha’s hand smacking me in the back of the head for coming up with such a stupid lie.

“How convenient you haven’t explained that to me before,”
she says
dryly. 

“It is not a matter of convenience; we simply have not talked about the finer points of Fairy magic because you are still working on garnering control over the basics.” 
I move closer to her, but she moves away from me.  Fine, I can take a hint.
  I will stay put.

“So, when are you going to teach me Witch magic?”

I almost lose my dinner as the shock of her question begs to make me physically ill. 
“Why on earth would you want to waste time with spells and incantations when your Fae magic is so strong?  You need only think of something and draw on the earth for it to be there.”

She gives me a dirty look. 
“So, I’m supposed to just forget that I’m half Witch because it makes you more comfortable, huh?”

I open my mouth to tell her all the ramifications of her trying to work spells with her unharnessed magic, but I am not up for another argument.  I try tact, instead. 
“I can see how you would want to learn about both areas of magic with your shared heritage, I was simply surprised that you would want to move past the Fae magic so quickly
,
and begin your knowledge of the Witches.”

“Why can’t I learn both at the same time?”

“As they are conflicting styles of magic, it would probably become quite confusing to try to master both at the same time.  But,”
I put on my best poker face
, “I would be perfectly willing to discontinue our work on controlling your Fae magic and beginning instruction
on your Witch magic.”
  Not a chance in hell.  I do not want to be anywhere
near
her when she performs her first spell.

“How diplomatically put.  Did it cause you any physical pain saying that?” 

I am so on
guard,
I almost react defensively to her question.  Until I see her eyes, and the teasing in them.  Leaning back against the
rock
wall and closing my eyes, I say,
“Some.”

She laughs.  A real
laugh
and it is like music to my ears.  This is how I want things to be between us.  Still sounding amused, she asks,
“Why would someone as old as you
,
want to kiss someone as young as me?”

Ah, back to this.  I can answer this honestly. 
“Because you are the most beautiful Fairy I have ever met.”

“You mean Witch Fairy.  You know, you could be my great
great
great
great
great
great
great
great
great
great
great
great
great
grandfather in human years.”

I grin over that. 
“Then it is fortunate that I am not human.  Time moves differently in the Fae realm.  My age is comparable to yours if assessed in human years.” 
Peeking at her through one eye, I
ask, “Are you cold enough to share a blanket with me yet?”

“Maybe I should try to make my own blanket.” 

Both eyes are open now.  I am sure she can hear the panic in my voice, as I say,
“I would rather not be buried by another avalanche at the moment, if that is alright with you.”

“I wonder if my magic is that hard to control or if you are simply a terrible teacher.  Which do you think it is?”
she says thoughtfully.

Reasonably sure
she is not going to try to work
magic,
I settle back against the wall again and close my eyes.  “
I am positive it is not the latter.”

“How can you be so sure?  Have you taught a lot of people how to use their magic?”

I
nod.  “Yes, I have.  I am considered one of the best at it
,
and families often request for me to help in their children’s training.” 
I find it fun to work with the young kids.  They are so excited and eager to learn
.

“Do you teach Cowan Fairies or do you only teach full-blooded Fairies?”

Another touchy subject I would like to avoid
, but I know she will not let me
. 
“You are quite feisty this evening.  And the answer is no, I do not teach Cowan Fairies
,
but not because I will not, it is because I cannot.  It would be similar to you trying to teach someone how to build a bridge
,
but they speak a different language than you
,
and have different tools that you have never used before.”

“Hmm, I don’t know how to build a bridge
,
so that’s a bad analogy.”

I chuckle.  She can be quite funny – on purpose, at times. 
“So it would seem.” 

She may not want to share a blanket with me, but I am tired of being cold.  A nice wool blanket should help considerably with that.  I create one and pull it around me, effectively blocking out most of the cold.

“That’s not nice,”
she
complain
s
.

I open my eyes and shrug
.  “I should not have to be cold because you do not want to share a blanket with me.”

A stubborn set to her jaw tells me she is not ready to join me under the blanket.  She holds out for five more minutes, until her blue lips cannot stop chattering
. 
I almost take pity on her and make her
her
own blanket.  Before I can do that, she grumbles,
“Fine
.
”
S
he
lifts
a corner of the blanket and pull
s
it over her
. 
That does not work for me.  I put my arms around her and quickly lift her so she is
settled between my legs with her back to my chest. 

“Hey!”
she exclaims in surprise.

“It is a better use of body heat to sit like this.” 
Which is true.
  And honesty is the best policy
.